We’ve all used augmented reality apps on our smartphones, tablets, and portable gaming systems — they’re amusing initially, but after a few minutes we realize they that are just parlor tricks. These apps can handle simple games and navigation, but they are severely limited because we’re stuck holding a device and window through which we view the virtual world is limited to the size (and proximity) of the screen in front of us. Canon wants to change that, and their Mixed Reality technology is how they want to implement that change.

In the video above we see two people with virtual-reality-style headsets on, waving their hands and sitting on things. The scene is completely reminiscent of our concept of VR from back in the time of the movie Hackers (antagonist “The Plague” plays a game wearing a headset not unlike these). In Canon’s demo the two men aren’t play a game, they are inspecting the design of a prototype car. Of course the magic here is that they are a lifelike 3D model of the car without the need to build a prototype or spend hours upon hours constructing a model. In the auto industry this is often done using full-sized clay models — which you can’t even get into — so you can imagine how much this would change the process.

In the demo the CAD data is loaded into to a program that creates a 3D environment that can be manipulated by the operators. They can view the car from the outside, open the doors, sit inside, and do other such activities. There have to be some real-life counterparts to the virtual objects, like racing seats for people to sit in, but overall the process seems to be straightforward, so long as you have the CAD files made (which you’d have to do anyway).

Part of the magic we see is due to super high-speed data processing, so all the object manipulation can be done in real-time, but also what Canon calls a “free-curve prism” lens. This is what allows viewers to see the world around them as well as computer-generated objects, and make all of it as life-like as possible. The prism is one of the reasons the headset is able to be so compact.

Canon IT intends to sell custom kits to automakers, and probably other industries, some time in the future.